Five years after the end of the Great Recession, the province's youth have been largely shut out of the recovery, the report found, "and the province’s current youth employment strategy isn’t fast enough nor robust enough to turn things around."

Hovering around 16.9 per cent in 2012, Ontario's youth jobless rate “rivaled that of Michigan’s and was higher than Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin,” the CCPA said.

Some Ontario cities — Windsor, Oshawa, Brantford and London — have youth jobless rates above 20 per cent, “putting them on par with high youth unemployment levels in the European Union,” the report states.

The difference in unemployment rates between youth and adults in the province is the largest it’s ever been, the report found.

Story continues below slideshow

Close



Youth Unemployment Rates In Ontario

of





Median Income For Women In Canada

The following data comes from Statistics Canada's 2011 National Household Survey.

Median income for men: $35,028
Average income for women: $29,775
Average income for men: $43,195

Median income for men: $30,961
Average income for women: $31,542
Average income for men: $40,965

Median income for men: $31,233
Average income for women: $37,015
Average income for men: $52,716

Median income for men: $32,887
Average income for women: $32,090
Average income for men: $44,800

Median income for men: $31,704
Average income for women: $35,618
Average income for men: $50,897

Median income for men: $35,666
Average income for women: $32,561
Average income for men: $45,725

Median income for men: $34,527
Average income for women: $32,306
Average income for men: $44,772

Median income for men: $35,042
Average income for women: $33,940
Average income for men: $48,258

Median income for men: $37,821
Average income for women: $32,830
Average income for men: $45,148

Median income for men: $35,776
Average income for women: $32,400
Average income for men: $44,342

Median income for men: $39,154
Average income for women: $33,398
Average income for men: $48,096

Median income for men: $36,117
Average income for women: $32,334
Average income for men: $43,858

Median income for men: $34,235
Average income for women: $33,792
Average income for men: $42,084

Median income for men: $40,913
Average income for women: $35,426
Average income for men: $52,018

Median income for men: $43,929
Average income for women: $37,100
Average income for men: $56,034

Median income for men: $45,781
Average income for women: $41,438
Average income for men: $68,928

Median income for men: $42,006
Average income for women: $38,488
Average income for men: $53,324

Median income for men: $46,513
Average income for women: $41,857
Average income for men: $58,318

Median income for men: $46,265
Average income for women: $45,636
Average income for men: $53,264

Median income for men: $66,153
Average income for women: $56,064
Average income for men: $73,225

Median income for men: $62,187
Average income for women: $63,456
Average income for men: $69,539

Highest-Paying Jobs That Don't Necessarily Need A Degree In Canada

Average salary $44,224.00

Average salary: $46,213.00

Yes, apparently they still have secretaries.
Average salary: $46,369.00

Average salary: $47,562.00

Average salary: $52,635.00
*Having some sort of certification in finance or business would likely help in this career, but isn't necessary.

Average salary: $53,017.00

Average salary: $54,048.00
*Though a degree isn't required, you may be at a disadvantage when searching for work as a recruiter against those with degrees in human resources.

Average salary: $54,279.00

Average salary: $56,640.00

Average salary: $58,033.00
*As with recruiters, you my be at a disadvantage in this field against those with a human resources degree.

Average salary: $62,526.00

Average salary: $81,349.00
*Adzuna explains: For some electrical engineering jobs, a degree is required, and for others it isn't — there are alternative professional qualifications.

Perhaps surprisingly, Toronto comes off particularly badly in the report. The percentage of youth with a job in Canada’s largest city is 43.5, the lowest of any region in the province. Toronto also has the largest gap between youth and adult employment rates, at 21.8 per cent, the report found.

“Toronto’s low employment rate comes from the withdrawal of 15–24 year olds from the labour force,” the report concludes.

The CCPA offers two possible reasons for why Ontario now has the worst youth job climate of any province outside the Maritimes: The “national economic shift away from manufacturing towards resource extraction,” and post-recession government austerity measures.

“Ontario has Canada’s largest manufacturing sector, so the hollowing out of Canadian manufacturing most severely impacts both youth and adult employment,” the report said.

That appears to be reflected in the fact that Ontario’s manufacturing centres, such as Windsor and Oshawa, also have the province's highest youth unemployment rates.

The report also pointed a finger at a "decade of aggressive service cuts ushered in by the Harris government starting in 1995" as contributing to the problem.